Web Pages That Suck

Top Hated Web Page Elements

If you want to stay in the good graces of your visitors, the following are absolute NO-NOs:

Music or sounds

Flashing anything

Movement

Too many fonts

Too many colors

Things that go bump and twirl

Automatic Page Refresh

For almost ten years, Vincent Flanders of Web Pages That Suck has been educating web page designers and businesses on what NOT to do on a website. His irreverent attitude has helped get the point across that web pages are critical and viable entities for businesses and if you want to be taken seriously on the web, you better create a web page that doesn’t suck.

A web page that doesn’t suck is one that focuses on the users’ needs not the business needs.

Nobody cares about you or your site. Really. What visitors care about is getting their problems solved. Most people visit a web site to solve one or more of the following three problems.

1. They want/need information2. They want/need to make a purchase/donation.3. They want/need to be entertained.

Too many organizations believe that a web site is about opening a new marketing channel or getting donations or to promote a brand. No. It’s about solving your customers’ problems. Have I said that phrase enough?Vincent Flanders – Web Pages That Suck

3 Comments

Thanks for all of this info. I am just getting started with a small business and
can’t afford to pay the big bucks for someone to work on my web sight. It looks like
I have alot more reading to do. Oh yea, please check out my web page and tell my
what you think. Thanks, Garrett

I’m currently traveling and Internet access if rare. I took a quick glance and the first thing that struck me is that you need a sidebar and serious navigation help. Sorry I don’t have more time right now. The wood products are lovely.

[…] Web page design has come a long way since I began with my simple text only site. Javascripts, PHP, Java applets, Flash, all kinds of bells and whistles are now on the web design cart for you to choose from as you design your web pages. Still, there are some rules and guides you should follow if you are starting out on this path. In “Web Pages That Suck” and “Portals, Splash Pages, Guest Books, Midi Songs, Traffic Counters, and Other Web Duds”, I wrote about what makes web pages stink and suck and what once was the fad is now the bad: Unfortunately, people are still using these out-of-date, hated-when-they-popped-up fads. People are still asking how to add visitor counters, guest books, and splash pages. I continue to be assaulted by music unrequested on web pages, even some big corporate sites! […]